Amended  IN  Assembly  March 21, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 3172

Introduced by Assembly Member Lowenthal

February 16, 2024

An act to amend Section 1798.16 of the Civil Code, relating to privacy. 1714 of the Civil Code, relating to obligations.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 3172, as amended, Lowenthal. Information Practices Act of 1977. Social media platforms: injuries to children: damages.
Existing law provides that everyone is responsible not only for the result of their willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by their want of ordinary care or skill in the management of their property or person.
This bill would make a social media platform, as defined, liable for specified damages in addition to any other remedy provided by law, if the platform fails to exercise ordinary care or skill toward a child. The bill would declare that its provisions are severable.

The Information Practices Act of 1977 requires an agency, as defined, that collects personal information, as defined, to maintain the source or sources of the information, as specified.

This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The people of the State of California find as follows:
(a) The biggest social media platforms invent and deploy features they know injure large numbers of children, including contributing to child deaths.
(b) The costs of these injuries are unfairly being paid by parents, schools, and taxpayers, not the social media platforms.
(c) This act is necessary to ensure that the social media platforms that are causing the most severe injuries to the largest number of children are more financially motivated than they have been previously to prevent injury from occurring to children.

SEC. 2.

 Section 1714 of the Civil Code is amended to read:

1714.
 (a) Everyone is responsible, not only for the result of his or her their willful acts, but also for an injury occasioned to another by his or her their want of ordinary care or skill in the management of his or her their property or person, except so far as the latter has, willfully or by want of ordinary care, brought the injury upon himself or herself. themselves. The design, distribution, or marketing of firearms and ammunition is not exempt from the duty to use ordinary care and skill that is required by this section. The extent of liability in these cases is defined by the Title on Compensatory Relief.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to abrogate the holdings in cases such as Vesely v. Sager (1971) 5 Cal.3d 153, Bernhard v. Harrah’s Club (1976) 16 Cal.3d 313, and Coulter v. Superior Court (1978) 21 Cal.3d 144 and to reinstate the prior judicial interpretation of this section as it relates to proximate cause for injuries incurred as a result of furnishing alcoholic beverages to an intoxicated person, namely that the furnishing of alcoholic beverages is not the proximate cause of injuries resulting from intoxication, but rather the consumption of alcoholic beverages is the proximate cause of injuries inflicted upon another by an intoxicated person.
(c) Except as provided in subdivision (d), no social host who furnishes alcoholic beverages to any person may be held legally accountable for damages suffered by that person, or for injury to the person or property of, or death of, any third person, resulting from the consumption of those beverages.
(d) (1) Nothing in subdivision (c) shall preclude a claim against a parent, guardian, or another adult who knowingly furnishes alcoholic beverages at his or her their residence to a person whom he they know, or she knows, or should have known, to be under 21 years of age, in which case, notwithstanding subdivision (b), the furnishing of the alcoholic beverage may be found to be the proximate cause of resulting injuries or death.
(2) A claim under this subdivision may be brought by, or on behalf of, the person under 21 years of age or by a person who was harmed by the person under 21 years of age.
(e) (1) A social media platform that violates its responsibility of ordinary care and skill to a child pursuant to subdivision (a) shall, in addition to any other remedy, be liable for damages in the amount of either of the following:
(A) Five thousand dollars ($5,000) per violation up to a maximum, per child, of one million dollars ($1,000,000).
(B) Three times the amount of the child’s actual damages.
(2) Any waiver of this subdivision shall be void and unenforceable as contrary to public policy.
(3) For the purpose of this subdivision the following definitions apply:
(A) “Child” means a minor under 18 years of age.
(B) “Social media platform” means a platform as defined in Section 22675 of the Business and Professions Code that generates more than one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) per year in gross revenues.
(4) The duties, remedies, and obligations imposed by this subdivision are cumulative to the duties, remedies, or obligations imposed under other law and shall not be construed to relieve a social media platform from any duties, remedies, or obligations imposed under any other law.

SEC. 3.

 The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
SECTION 1.Section 1798.16 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1798.16.

(a)Whenever an agency collects personal information, the agency shall maintain the source or sources of the information, unless the source is the data subject or has received a copy of the source document, including, but not limited to, the name of any source who is an individual acting in the individual’s own private or individual capacity. If the source is an agency, governmental entity, or other organization, such as a corporation or association, this requirement may be met by maintaining the name of the agency, governmental entity, or organization, as long as the smallest reasonably identifiable unit of that agency, governmental entity, or organization is named.

(b)On or after July 1, 2001, unless otherwise authorized by the Department of Information Technology pursuant to Executive Order D-3-99, whenever an agency electronically collects personal information, as defined by Section 11015.5 of the Government Code, the agency shall retain the source or sources or any intermediate form of the information, if either are created or possessed by the agency, unless the source is the data subject that has requested that the information be discarded or the data subject has received a copy of the source document.

(c)An agency shall maintain the source or sources of the information in a readily accessible form so as to be able to provide it to the data subject when they inspect any record pursuant to Section 1798.34. This section shall not apply if the source or sources are exempt from disclosure under this chapter.